Wednesday, April 16, 2014

4 Types of Rats That Will Get in Your Way of Freedom

It's not normal.

We're not striving to be normal. If normal's what you're striving for, then you're at the wrong page, head over to Harvard Business Review instead - the place where they'll teach you to be a better employee, to wade your way through corporate politics, to succeed in the treadmill, to suck up to your superiors...to be a better rat, a Class-A corporate rat.

Working your way towards white-collar freedom is not easy when you're surrounded by people who don't see things the way you do. Most of them fall into one of the following profiles:

1) The Common Rat

New to the treadmill. Generally lost.

They show up at work from 9am to 6pm because that is what's written on the employment contract. Work hard. Spend frivolously on the weekends, because they deserve it. Rinse. Repeat.

So, they keep running on the treadmill.

2) The Rat-in-Denial

Senior Associate. Talented. In the wrong field.

They go through a love-hate relationship with their job, superiors, colleagues and clients. There are days where they look like they genuinely love their jobs, and there are days where they curse at every object that crosses their path. These rats believe in the corporate ladder, thinking that the next promotion, a bigger paycheck, will lead to fewer bad days.

They want to try scaling the corporate ladder for themselves, sacrificing relationships in the process.

So, they keep running on the treadmill until they hit the infamous 'mid-life crisis'.

3) The Fully Invested

35 years old. Associate Director. So near, yet so far from being made partner.

Unhappy, but since these rats have invested more than 10 years of their lives in the corporate treadmill, roots start to grow from the bottom of their chair legs. They preach the company's mission and vision statement to outsiders.

They tell themselves, "another 10 more years and i'll be made partner'.

So, they keep running on the treadmill.

4) The Debt-Slave

28 years old. High monthly income. Even higher debt load.

They draw a paycheck that make many envious. Gaudy watches, fancy cars and homes are all achieved before the age of 30. As they make the minimum payments on their debt-fuelled life, the effects of compounding interest works against them.

They hang on tight to their jobs, afraid of losing the only income bucketthat is fundamental to their lifestyle.